Realities of the Straight Arm Forehand

[bobbyswift]

I like his forehand a lot. On the start of the gravity drop his shoulder is already starting to externally rotate and his forearm is starting to supinate. Making the flip to early. The start of his forward swing his shoulder is cramped and needs to be more abducted from his body.

[arturohernandez]

Nice to see some discussion around here. I have a different question.

Right now the forehand looks good with balls coming with a very similar pace. What happens when the pace changes.

How does he handle a slice ball that is really low?

I just saw Tiafoe miss an inside out forehand during the first set tiebreak against Dimitrov.

He seems to have something like a modern-modern forehand.

It's great when he has time and the is coming with topspin.

But once the ball varies or is very low then he is stuck and has to alter the entire swing to compensate.

Doesn't this type of technique (i.e. Kyrgios, Sock) look very impressive but only under ordinary circumstances.

I think the idea of creating a more fluid stroke is great.

But I am very curious to see how it holds up when height and spin are varied.

It would be great to see how "the kid" handles that.

[BrianGordon]

Hi Guys - Thanks for your detailed description Don (and videos). I don't have much to add - great comments by all here. He is representative of the "new breed" of forehand in the second video. I agree it is here to stay but not for my players. There is too much motion (most of it unnecessary and most often counter-productive in my opinion). Given his swing, I like what Don has done and would then focus on the arm structure in the forward swing - his elbow breaks down too much for me which negates most of the benefits of the ATP backswing whether traditional or modern. Very interesting exchange - thanks.